Do You Remember? Moving Hubble telescope will snarl traffic

Published 12:54 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

From The News-Times files:

25 years ago

Morning rush hour traffic stalled behind a slow-moving truck with an oversized load shrouded in white plastic in a spectacular hour-long traffic jam along Route 7 and Interstate 84 on the city's west side.

The traffic snarl was caused by a "dry run" to test procedures for the eventual movement of the NASA Hubble space telescope assembly being constructed at the Perkin-Elmer facility on Wooster Heights in Danbury. Perkin-Elmer's optical division has been been constructing the telescope assembly during the past four years.

Local and state police cars escorted the truck and reduced commuter traffic to a crawl, as an Army helicopter hovered overhead.

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NASA officials wanted to ensure that the unique and expensive piece of engineering would safely make the trip to a New York area airport in November (1984), when commuters can expect a repeat of the traffic snarl.

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A few days later, the installation of highway guardrails jammed westbound traffic on Interstate 84 between exits 7 and 8. A project to improve sightlines and put up fences to make the highway safer to drive between exits 3 and 8 has generated traffic jams all summer.

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Danbury's Redevelopment Agency has opened two proposals from developers who want to turn the agency's long-dormant, eight-acre downtown parcel into a complex of apartments, condominium units, retail space and offices.

The agency has until Sept. 30 (1984) to review the two proposals and make a decision on which of the developers -- John A. Errichetti, of Waterbury, or Nolan Enterprises, of Danbury -- will be awarded the project.

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City native Lee Connor has been named marshal of Danbury's tricentennial parade.

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Danbury's health director closed the Hayestown School building this week after a contractor began removing asbestos without the required authority from the city or federal governments.

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Voices, a popular area rock group, will seek to expand its range with the release of its first album on the Atlantic label early next year (1985).

As of this week, every person, including lawyers, entering the Danbury Superior Courthouse on White Street, must go through a stationary metal detector, similar to those used at airports. Those who set it off must be searched before they can enter. Security has been beefed up as a result of a murder inside a courthouse in Norwich two months ago.

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Vandals have spray painted parts of the Danbury Library in a style reminiscent of New York City subway trains. As a result, police have begun a crackdown on loiterers, and three people have been ticketed.

The city has also put up a spotlight to illuminate the courtyard and discourage vandals.

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Danbury Mayor James E. Dyer has appointed Leo Null to fill the building inspector's post that has been vacant since April (1984), when Paul Garofalo resigned because of poor health.

Null has been assistant building inspector for six months.

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Danbury police are forming an Evidence Technician Unit, similar to the state police's Major Crime Squad.

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The Rev. William Webb, an evangelist from Thorndike, Mass., has brought his blend of music and revivalism to a tent by Lake Kenosia in Danbury. He conducted tent revivals there this week. He feels he is part of a New England resurgence in evangelical Christianity.

Two flight instructors were badly injured when their plane caught fire shortly after takeoff from Danbury Airport yesterday (August 15, 1984). They avoided St. Peter's Cemetery, traffic on I-84 and people at nearby Lake Kenosia to skillfully crash land near the cemetery. One of the two was Gene Robinson, a Danbury flight school co-owner and WINE radio traffic reporter.

50 years ago

With the construction of Danbury's newest shopping center on Route 37, due for completion sometime in November (1959), the W.T. Grant Co. will be establishing its 32nd Connecticut store on the site a mile north of downtown Danbury.

The department store concern is planning to continue operating its present store at 227 Main St.

Civil suits against the City of Danbury, based upon the alleged pollution of the Still River, were filed in Superior Court today (August 15, 1934) by Adoniram Fairchild and George Griffin, both of Beaver Brook District in Danbury. They both ask for an injunction restraining the city from emptying any sewage into Still River.

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Four-year-old Paul Novaco of Harding Place received a fractured left leg yesterday (Aug. 14, 1934) when being chased by some playmates.